Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Singapore-based shipmanager Synergy Marine over the 2024 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, two years after the containership Dali struck the span and killed six people.
The indictment, announced on Tuesday, names Synergy Marine Pte Ltd and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd, along with Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, the vessel’s technical superintendent, who faces charges of conspiracy, obstruction and misconduct resulting in death, among other offences. Acting attorney general Todd Blanche described the bridge collapse as “a preventable tragedy of enormous consequence.”
Prosecutors allege the Dali’s crew knew of critical systems issues before leaving the port of Baltimore on the night of March 24 2024, and that Synergy failed to report or investigate two electrical blackouts that had occurred aboard the vessel in port the day before the disaster. The ship lost power twice in a four-minute span as it moved to sea, disabling steering and causing it to crash into a supporting column of the Key Bridge at approximately 1.30am. Six construction workers filling potholes on the bridge were killed.
The indictment alleges that after the first blackout, the ship used a fuel pump not designed to automatically restart following a power loss, causing a second blackout. “If the Dali had used the proper fuel pumps, the vessel would have regained power in time to safely get under the bridge,” prosecutors allege.
The companies and Nair are charged with conspiracy, wilfully failing to notify the US Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstructing a National Transportation Safety Board investigation and making false statements. The Synergy entities face additional misdemeanour charges for the release of pollutants including shipping containers and their contents into the Patapsco River.
Synergy Marine rejected the charges, saying: “We are surprised and disappointed by the announcement that the US Department of Justice is pursuing criminal charges against Synergy. DOJ is criminalising a tragic accident. The allegations in the indictment are baseless and have nothing to do with the Dali’s allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” the company said.
Synergy argued that the NTSB’s own 20-month investigation had conclusively attributed the power loss to a manufacturer’s latent defect – a loose wire in the ship’s electrical system – at the point when the vessel was approximately three ship lengths from the bridge travelling at 8.5 knots. “Both the NTSB and well-respected maritime experts have conclusively determined that the accident was inevitable due to the loose wire, which was in no way attributable to Synergy’s operation of the vessel,” the company said, adding that the Dali had a near-flawless Port State Control record in the United States.
“Synergy will vigorously defend itself against these inaccurate allegations. We are confident that the DOJ cannot and will not meet its burden of proof and that we will prevail at trial,” the company added.
The criminal charges follow a $2.25bn civil settlement between Maryland, Synergy Marine and shipowner Grace Ocean, announced in April. Some portions of that lawsuit remain unresolved, and claims against shipbuilder HD Hyundai have not been settled.
Maryland estimates the replacement of the bridge – a 2.6 kilometre steel span that opened in 1977 – will cost between $4.3bn and $5.2bn, with completion not expected until late 2030.
